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[2025] Europa-Park General Discussion

Could EP possibly revert it back to Gazprom, the previous sponsor?
 
I imagine there are lots of legal issues at play here? EP are likely receiving money for the sponsorship with a contract in place for a certain period of time.

One for the lawyers I imagine.
 
Gazprom are a partner in Nordstream 2.

It’s always been a slightly dubious sponsorship. You’ve got to think it’ll be removed even if they’re in default of whatever contract exists.
 
It has been dodgy since the start, over 10 years.

I get it fits the "theme" of the ride, so in that respect it's logical - but politically, not a good idea. Never was.

Just get EDF on board.
 
Yup, it's not as easy as removing just on account of bad publicity, especially when it's not directly due to Nordstream 2's actions.

It's all too easy to say "break the contract, it's fine" but we have no idea of the legal ramifications involved if EP choose to break the agreement. As AT86 says, I would imagine there'll be a lot of discussion going on in the background, but the negative publicity surrounding the sponsorship has been there for a considerable period already. Remember that the pipeline itself hasn't been cancelled, just the certification of it to allow it to operate for the time being. As a result I wouldn't be expecting an immediate removal unless a deal is done or the contract allows it.
 
This link is behind a paywall (and in German, naturally) but Michael Mack's politics have recently been under some scrutiny in the wider national press recently.

I used to find the Macks, and their increasingly constant visibility, weird but charming. As the park has expanded as a 'brand' and become more corporate, I now find their presence somewhat exhausting. But that's true of pretty much any public figure in the social media age. I was never under any illusion that they were anything other than what the success of EP requires them to be - ruthless, centrist capitalist libertarians - but Michael being a bit of a div about COVID-19 and whinging that he might not be able to build a bloody cable car to France at quite the pace he'd like because of the environment, I could do without.
 
I’m not sure whether you think this is true or not, but I once heard (possibly on here) the Mack family likened to the German equivalent of the Trump family, with Roland acting as the central Donald Sr-style figure. Are they seen as very prominent, well-known celebrities within Germany?

I don’t really know much about the Macks other than EP and Mack Rides, to be honest… is EP a bit like the German Trump Tower, in terms of being the flagship business that spawned a huge empire of wealth and other businesses for the Mack family in the way that Trump Tower did for Donald Trump?

I talk exclusively in terms of the type of family they are and in terms of the scale of their fame and wealth, for clarity.
 
Out of interest, is EP a bit like Epcot, where they bring in corporate sponsors to fund the construction and upkeep of each area and be a figurehead to it? So having Gazprom/Nordstream as the figurehead for Blue Fire/Iceland, and Mercedes as the figurehead for Silver Star/France?

You could extend that to Disney more generally, come to think of it, as there’s also a lot of sponsored rides within the other 3 WDW parks…
 
Matt N said:
Out of interest, is EP a bit like Epcot, where they bring in corporate sponsors to fund each area and be a figurehead to it? So having Gazprom/Nordstream as the figurehead for Blue Fire/Iceland, and Mercedes as the figurehead for Silver Star/France?
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Not really. Sponsorship at EP is largely quite subtle. There's more IPs and sponsorships now though than ever before. Eurowings, Mercedes, Gazprom/Nordstream, Lindt etc.
 
Matt N said:
I’m not sure whether you think this is true or not, but I once heard (possibly on here) the Mack family likened to the German equivalent of the Trump family, with Roland acting as the central Donald Sr-style figure. Are they seen as very prominent, well-known celebrities within Germany?

I don’t really know much about the Macks other than EP and Mack Rides, to be honest… is EP a bit like the German Trump Tower, in terms of being the flagship business that spawned a huge empire of wealth and other businesses for the Mack family in the way that Trump Tower did for Donald Trump?

I talk exclusively in terms of the type of family they are and in terms of the scale of their fame and wealth, for clarity.
Click to expand...

No.

If I went out onto the street in Berlin and showed a random sample of people a photo of Roland Mack, they likely wouldn't have a clue who he was. But the Macks are more prominent in the media in Southern Germany, where their business is one of the biggest employers and therefore most influential around. They are also very closely tied with the CDU party, who have just lost control of the government to a more left-leaning coalition, so probably feel on shakier ground than before. But they basically have carte blanche in terms of local politics, and generally maintain good relations with the people of Rust.

Sometimes they are written about in the OK!/Take A Break style press, especially as Michael Mack ended up marrying a 'Miss Germany' who was crowned at the park itself, in another rather old-world tradition ("Tell me, have you ever seen the lighthouse suite at Bell Rock?")

In many ways, it's the exact opposite of the situation at Phantasialand, where the owners and management rarely appear in person, do nearly zero PR and the local politicians face pressure from locals to make the park's future decidedly uncertain. And none of them are married to a supermodel.
 
Matt N said:
I’m not sure whether you think this is true or not, but I once heard (possibly on here) the Mack family likened to the German equivalent of the Trump family, with Roland acting as the central Donald Sr-style figure. Are they seen as very prominent, well-known celebrities within Germany?

I don’t really know much about the Macks other than EP and Mack Rides, to be honest… is EP a bit like the German Trump Tower, in terms of being the flagship business that spawned a huge empire of wealth and other businesses for the Mack family in the way that Trump Tower did for Donald Trump?

I talk exclusively in terms of the type of family they are and in terms of the scale of their fame and wealth, for clarity.
Click to expand...

I know you said in terms of fame and wealth, but I'd say there are a lot of difference between the Macks and the Trumps. To be fair, I don't know much about the Mack family as people, but Roland Mack has a degree in engineering and speaks three languages. I have no idea whether he's a nice person, but he's clearly very intelligent. Also, the Macks have been genuinely successful at business. Donald Trump managed to bankrupt a casino. Quite a bit of the Trump's money seems to have come from dubious public grants and tax avoidance (possibly tax evasion). I wouldn't be surprised if the Macks are ruthless because most successful people are, but it's not difficult to see where their money comes from.

Even if there is a similarity in terms of wealth and fame, that applies to a lot of people. You could say that there's a similarity between Roland Mack and Wayne Rooney.

P.s. I hope my last comment seems funny and not snarky.
 
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I never thought the day would come where I read a discussion on this forum regarding similarities between Roland Mack and Donald Trump. Wow!

One is king of the fun. The other, well, I can't post that here.
 
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